'Pallywood,' a Documentary of Staged Palestinian Violence and Media Enablers

The Daily Free Press, an independent student newspaper at Boston University, reports on Second Draft, a website by associate history professor Richard Landes.

The website critiques the media's coverage of Middle East violence by using "unedited violent footage to highlight potential inaccuracies in reporting."

"Landes claimed many scenes of violence against Palestinians are staged and coined the term 'Pallywood' to describe the industry that produces this footage. He said this 'staged' information is a way to further the Palestinian cause and to try the views of those who see it...

"One segment, "Molotov Kid," shows a Palestinian boy who does not act injured being frantically carried to an ambulance. Other segments show Palestinian photographers approaching the Israeli position at the junction without fear. According to Landes, they do so because they know that no actual gunfire is coming from the position."

"It was so obvious that it was fake stuff," said Landes. "It was a joke. This was an industry. This wasn't an accident."

The lack of interest by the mainstream media is what spawned the site.

"Landes said he created seconddraft.org after showing his footage to contacts in several mainstream news outlets. Although many journalists were interested in his findings, Landes said they did not want to bring them to light in the media."

According to Landes, "It's there because the mainstream media will not cover this."

Second Draft (because journalism is often called the "first draft" of history) offers videos you can watch, including the documentary "Pallywood" and other clips of raw footage for you to "make up your own mind."

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